Once boasting one of Germany’s most important cattle markets, Wedel overlooks the River Elbe west of Hamburg. After two centuries of Dutch rule, the town was invaded by Prussian and Austrian troops in 1864. Today, Wedel is famously home to the Willkomm-Höft where ships are welcomed or bid farewell with the dipping of flags and playing of national anthems.
Things to do in Wedel
Occupying the birthplace of the artist and writer is the Ernst Barlach Museum, which houses an impressive collection of his sculptures, lithographs and manuscripts. It also regularly hosts temporary exhibitions exploring historical and current subjects, with everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to the Beatles highlighted. Nearby is the Immanuelkirche am Roland where concerts regularly take place.
Watch the boats coming and going along the Elbe River from the Schulauer Strand, a rocky beach that can be accessed via a clifftop trail. If you continue east along the river, you’ll arrive at the Wittenbergener Heide, a forested recreational area that's renowned for sightings of native wildlife. Rising above the riverfront is the red-and-white-striped Lighthouse Rissen, which overlooks the sands of Wittenbergen Beach.
Wedel makes an excellent base for visiting the Puppenmuseum Falkenstein, which occupies a Bauhaus-style villa designed by Karl Schneider in the 1920s. It exhibits more than 500 dolls from the last three centuries, reflecting the changing fashions and beauty ideals of the past. As you peer into the antique dollhouses, discover what middle-class houses looked like in years gone by.
Getting around Wedel
Wedel is around 30 minutes’ drive from the centre of Hamburg and the same distance from Hamburg Airport, which has flights to destinations across Europe and the Middle East. Regular trains connect to the Wedel railway station and buses travel throughout the town, connecting most of its attractions.